- Made circa 2005
- Silver tubing and lip plate
- Gold Adler wings
- Gold riser
- Gold-rimmed crown
- Embouchure: 10.39 mm x 12.01 mm x 5.37 mm (0.212″)
- Tenon: 0.016″
While we specialize in vintage flutes, this modern headjoint is worthy of our attention. It’s one of the finest crafted modern headjoints we’ve encountered. It paired nicely with vintage and modern flutes in our testing. Regardless of the flute, the sound is uniformly rich and voluptuous in all registers. It’s very easy to play, and controlling dynamics and tone color was effortless.
Although the wall thickness is 0.016″, the tenon was fitted with a sleeve. We suspect that the original owner had the headjoint made for a flute with 0.014″ walls but later wanted the headjoint fitted for a flute with 0.016″. The customary way to size up a headjoint is to expand the tenon, but doing so can alter the tonal character. To preserve sound quality, a silver sleeve was added to the tenon. The sleeve was then carved down to the appropriate dimension.
The sleeve is a permanent alteration, so the stamps that identify an original Lafin headjoint are now covered. However, very few technicians use this technique to size up a headjoint. The second (and current) owner has confirmed with Lafin and Brannen that Lafin himself made the head and that a sleeve has been added to the headjoint. Lafin says the style of the crown matches his work from c. 2005.
Price: $4,750
Sold as is. Sales tax applies to purchases within California. For inquiries on purchasing, please contact Gary Lewis.
